


Visiting Eternity

by Zyakhin



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: First Meetings, Gen, fishing in places you shouldn't be able to fish, to be honest this is an excuse to wax poetic about Chaos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 20:34:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29284620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zyakhin/pseuds/Zyakhin
Summary: “Come on, Than,” Zagreus’s tone took a pleading note. “I think they’re lonely. Master Chaos said that before I started visiting, they thought everyone had forgotten about them. Even Nyx... Please? I’m sure they’d love to meet one of her children,”Thanatos knew in the end that he was powerless to deny Zagreus anything he wanted. Even if that was to jump into a terrifying abyss to meet the Primordial Originator of all things. His grandparent.“Okay,” He relented softly. “I’ll go with you,”In which Than gets to meet Chaos for the first time.
Relationships: Chaos & Thanatos (Hades Video Game), Thanatos/Zagreus (Hades Video Game)
Comments: 34
Kudos: 293





	Visiting Eternity

Another one of their body-count competitions finished with a bang. Thanatos’s last death sentence faded with a final _gong_ as Zagreus finished putting his sword through the wayward eye-shaped soul of a Longspear. 

Zagreus had pulled ahead by two points, in the end. His triumphant laughter rang through the now-empty chamber, echo muted by the mossy walls of Elysium. 

“I win!” 

“So you did,” came Thanatos’s unruffled reply. “Only because you have to kill the exalted champions twice- meanwhile when I kill them... They’re simply dead.” 

“That’s what you get for being so good at killing things, Than,” Zagreus’s smile widened like it always did right before he said something snarky. “But I was still faster than you, in the end,” 

“Those shouldn’t count for two points,” Thanatos grumbled. “But alright, alright, here-” He banished his scythe and produced his favored centaur heart, still warm and beating with invigorating life-essence that would make the prince of the Underworld stronger. He didn’t mind losing these contests so often if only Zag got to walk away from them stronger than when he came in. Even if sometimes the effect was nullified by the fact that the competition inspired Zagreus to fight more recklessly than usual in the name of besting Death himself. 

Zagreus took the heart with happy enthusiasm, letting its power dissipate and coalesce anew in his chest, strengthening him. But just as Thanatos was about to wish his beloved goodbye and good luck, an unnatural breeze ruffled the perpetual stillness of the Underworld. 

It made all of Thanatos’s senses snap to attention, looking for the source of the disturbance that felt less like moving air and more like a _whisper._ Not one that he heard in his ears, but in his mind. 

“Oh!” Zagreus only looked pleased in the face of this intrusion, starkly contrasted with Thanatos’s unease. The prince looked over his shoulder, at something Than couldn’t see. “Chaos is here again,”

“Chaos? Here?” Death looked around, but nothing seemed out of place. Paradise was as green as it ever was, the mist coming off the Lethe bestowing the area with pleasant humidity. 

“Yeah. Should I visit them?” Zagreus turned and walked towards a corner of the chamber, near to one of the gleaming statues of a huntress, veiled in boarskin. Thanatos, confused, followed a few steps behind, floating a gentle handspan above the long grass. 

Zag stopped and crouched low to the ground, and as he did Thanatos could suddenly see it. There was a portal, and from within it inky blackness not unlike the kind his mother exuded seeped through it in lazy swells. 

“Well... I don’t know... Do you want to visit them?” Than couldn’t take his eyes off of the strange portal, worried that if he looked away it would disappear from his awareness again, and cease to exist. 

“I’ve already gone to visit Master Chaos once this run but they never mind my visits-” Zagreus cut himself off with a gasp. “Than! You’ve never met Chaos before, have you?” 

“No. And mother has only just begun to reconnect with them. Catching up after aeons of separation-”

“You should come with me and visit Master Chaos! I’m sure they’d love to meet you,”

Thanatos chose then to set his feet on the ground, the verdant grass under his heels not withering and dying like the plants of the surface. “I don’t know, Zagreus.” The idea of coming face to face with the Primordial Originator of all things was daunting. He was used to the darkness, having spent his immortal life with his mother, but the profundity of the black beyond the gold rimmed portal was as intimidating as it was deep. 

“They’re your grandparent! I’ll go with you, so you won’t go alone! Come on, Than,” Zagreus’s tone took a pleading note. “I think they’re lonely. Master Chaos said that before I started visiting, they thought everyone had forgotten about them. Even Nyx... Please? I’m sure they’d love to meet one of her children,” 

Thanatos made the fatal mistake of looking right into Zagreus’s charmingly mismatched eyes, framed by his ever-burning laurels, to his face still flushed from the exertion of the fight (Blood and darkness, why did his red blood have to make him flush _pink?_ It was cute beyond words.) and Death Incarnate could feel his resolve crumbling. He was powerless to deny Zagreus anything he wanted. Even if that was to jump into a terrifying abyss to meet the progenitor of all things. 

“Okay,” he relented softly. “I’ll go with you,” The prince’s smile only grew, blinding, and Thanatos had to look away, and his gaze fell to the mysterious portal again. He took a half step towards it, cautious, and Zagreus came to his side and snaked his muscled arm around Death’s waist. 

“Fair warning, Than. This might, uh, hurt a little bit.”

“ _Hurt?_ ” 

“Well, it hurts me, at least. Maybe it won’t hurt you? It just stings a little, no big deal.” Zagreus soothed, speaking quickly as if that will get it over with sooner. “Do you still want to go?”

Ugh. The things he did for Zagreus. “Fine, okay, lets just do it.” The pair took another step towards the ingress, and Thanatos tightened his hold on Zag with trepidation. They stepped over it, hovering for a moment, before the darkness consumed them both. 

When Thanatos was next able to open his eyes, they were somewhere else entirely. 

Zagreus wasn’t kidding about the pain, either. It felt like a long needle had pierced the hollow of his throat and forced its way into his chest with surgical precision. He reached his gauntlet-less hand up and felt at his throat, but found no indication of anything amiss. Bizarre. But, with every moment that passed, the discomfort faded. And with it, Thanatos realized most unsettlingly, he could not feel the pull of the many winged souls beating at him from the surface anymore. His mind was silent in a way it almost never was, and Death Incarnate began to wonder how truly far away from home they had gone. 

“Here we are! Welcome to Chaos,” _Here_ , Thanatos thought, was a strong term for wherever they were. Zagreus of course, was unaffected by the strangeness his partner was feeling so acutely, likely used to it by this point. The prince released him and strode forward confidently, and Thanatos took a second to observe his surroundings. 

They were on a crumbling stone slab, bleached white as if left abandoned in the light of Helios’s chariot for thousands of years, decrepit pillars that held up nothing only adding to that image. There were a few scattered vases that looked equally ancient, standing right on the edge of the slab where it dropped off into... Nothingness. 

However, the darkness enshrouding the slab was thankfully not absolute. The void surrounding them was punctuated by many bright stars, reminding Thanatos of the brilliant points of light that decorated his mother’s otherwise raven-dark hair. But, unlike his mother, this darkness seemed to ripple oddly at random intervals, almost liquid in appearance. 

Thanatos took a step forward and realized he could feel nothing under his feet, and looked down quickly to find that only the moment he had consciously thought about the texture of the floor was the moment he was able to feel it, smooth marble devoid of any temperature making itself known. The shock of the suddenness spooked Death into pulling up his feet, floating with uncertainty above the surface. If he was going to feel nothing it would be by his own design. He would float for now. 

Zagreus approached the only other thing of notice in their surroundings, the boon perfectly placed in the center of the slab. Thanatos had seen Zag take boons from the Olympians before. The prince would announce his presence, and then listen to the god speak through the boon as if from a great distance. But, they never seemed to be able to hear what Zag said in return. How would Thanatos be able to greet Chaos if that was the case?

Thanatos drifted closer to his partner, wary of the boon, who’s ethereal golden ring and symbols seemed to distort the longer he looked at it. But, before Zagreus could even touch it, a voice emanated from... everywhere. It felt like tens of voices intertwined, reverberating strangely in the space, buzzing in Thanatos’s jaw and chest as if the sound was coming from himself. 

“You have returned, son of Hades,” the voice intoned.

Zagreus said nothing, and placed his hand on the boon. 

“Again you’ve come for another blessing. How fortunate it is that I can provide. But... you’ve brought another into my realm. You have never done this before. Explain.” 

“Master Chaos. I’ve brought my partner Thanatos with me. He is one of the sons of Nyx, and eager to meet you,” Zagreus’s gaze lifted, and he beckoned Than over to him, taking hold of his hand and setting it on the boon in place of his own. Thanatos knew he was touching it, but the surface was nearly frictionless and as a result, couldn’t really feel it at all. 

“Greetings, Master Chaos.” Thanatos began, trying to keep his voice level. “I am pleased to make your acquaintance. Mother Nyx and Zagreus speak highly of you. I am honored to meet you here in your realm.”

Thanatos awaited their response, and for a moment none came. He kept his gaze steady on the pulsing orb of the boon, until Zagreus elbowed him in the side gently. He looked up and was startled to find that where before there was nothing but void, now there was Chaos. 

Chaos was... hard to look at. In their entirety. Somehow only the parts Thanatos was focusing on were clear to see, as if the rest of their physical form was content to merely blur out when not being observed. But what he _was_ looking at sharpened to a gruesome focus, and the first thing Thanatos could see was how many different faces Chaos wore. Human-looking faces twisted in horrible expressions looked back at him with glassy crimson eyes, shifting, changing, moving through entire life cycles before their guests. One of these faces blinked, and upon re-opening their gem-like eyes vibrant flowers bloomed in place of eyeballs, crimson petals unfurling over smooth marble-bright skin. No sooner had the flowers matured they perished and withered away, and with it the whole face stretched and reformed until it was reabsorbed from whence it came. 

Thanatos’s eyes moved up, observing with horrified fascination a skeletal spine that turned into an emaciated chest. Embedded in the center of which was a gleaming vermilion eyeball, whose gaze was so potent now that Thanatos was aware of it that he was sure he sunk lower in his float under its heavy assessment. 

The flesh-like matter Chaos wore as a cloak sprouted ivory white plants around the shoulders, growing and shrinking at equal speeds. As they spread, the matter smoothed out into what Thanatos could more easily identify as gold-gilded fabric, waving and flaring despite there being no air to encourage it so. 

Finally, Thanatos could see Chaos’s true face. It was finely sculpted like the many busts the humans were fond of carving from white stone, except with entirely too many eyes. Bats wings sprouted from their refined temples as if they were a Cthonic parody of Hermes’s swift wings, but unlike Hermes’s, Chaos’s wings were stock still, frozen in their outstretched pose. Horns like a rams curled into a chitinous halo behind their pale head, and Thanatos counted no less than five eyeballs, all dutifully focused on him. 

“Hmm,” Chaos intoned flatly, snapping Death from his trance. How long had he been standing here looking at them? Thanatos couldn’t tell, suddenly. It could have been mere moments or maybe a century, for all he knew. “Welcome. Any child of Nyx is welcome here,” They paused, lowering their massive body as to not loom over the pair quite so harshly. “You certainly feel like her. Your soul is so steeped in darkness it is hard for me to connect with your consciousness.” Thanatos had no time to ponder if that was a bad thing over the surprise of that braided voice still emanating from Chaos despite the fact that none of their many mouths moved at all. 

“Draw near.”

Warm hands on his back ushered him forward (Zagreus? How long had he been standing there?) and Thanatos forced himself to straighten his posture. He knew he had a habit of folding himself in his float into a childish curl, much like his brother Hypnos still did often, snuggled into his blanket cape, but Thanatos tried to avoid it for the sake of looking professional. But evidently he was not immune to it in the face of his nerves, seeking comfort. 

He drew close as commanded, gliding to the edge of the slab. Chaos brought forth their monumental hands, and offered them with obvious intention. Thanatos hesitated for a moment, but knew there was no point in spurning the all powerful being in front of him, even if he was a bit fearful. He took a step onto the cupped hands, and tried not to topple over as Chaos lifted him to chest level so they were more comfortably able to speak. Or be studied in detail by their excess of eyes. He was still floating over Chaos’s hands, and decided he would stay that way because he knew that if he came in contact with their skin it would be just as unsettling as the rest of them. 

“Son of Nyx,” Their voice was louder up close. “What is your domain? Respond.” 

“Master Chaos. I am Death. I guide those who have generally died peaceful deaths to the underworld where they will rest forevermore,” Thanatos notes the drops of pure crystalline darkness hanging from Chaos’s ears, nearly as big as his whole body, and is reminded of his mother and her adornments. There is no reason to fear, he tells himself. This is his grandparent after all. They’re just curious. 

“Death has little sway with immortal beings. I myself admit I am not familiar with it,” There was another vermillion eye to match the one in their chest centered in their forehead, this iris instead a pleasant gold. Two smaller eyes looked at him from under the pupils, and these Thanatos studied for a moment to realize he could not figure out what color they were. It was nothing like he had ever seen before, completely unknowable to him. 

Their true eyes, as shining and purple as crystal darkness, seemed to come to a realization. “But. I think I have observed the workings of your power before. You lend aid to the son of Hades. It has been most entertaining to watch him attempt his escapes. Sometimes he is halted, other times he is not. But without fail, when his life force depletes... A strong power allows him to defy fate and live. I recognize it now. It’s you.”

Thanatos went slightly rigid at the admission. No one at the house (save for his mother) knew it was him going directly against his duties to save Zagreus from death. The tokens he had earned from the mirror allowed Thanatos to instantaneously warp and shove Zagreus’s life back into his body, despite all his senses screaming at him to reap death, as his birthright demanded. However there were only so many times he could do this before Zagreus’s body truly gave out, as Thanatos had only ever managed it three times in one attempt before he would arrive to find his lover truly dead. He would gather him into his arms, sweep his bloody hair from his face, and deposit him into the Styx, perilously gentle as to not crack the laurels that burnt out upon his death. He had defied his station innumerable times in this way, and he would do it again, would do it forever if that’s what Zagreus needed from him. That was not subject to change. 

“It’s me,” his voice came out low. Chaos already knew, there was no point in claiming otherwise. An indeterminately long moment passed between the two, considering. 

“Son of Nyx-” Chaos spoke again. “Why are you here?” 

A loaded question. But Thanatos refused to get caught up in any subtext. The answer was plain. “Zag- The prince asked me to visit. Familial bonds are of paramount importance to him. And seeing how you’re my only grandparent, he thought it prudent for us to meet. I hope I haven’t overstepped any bounds in doing so, Master Chaos,” 

“You have not,” They responded flatly. Another moment passed, amiable, and Thanatos felt compelled to speak again. 

“Zagreus was responsible for restoring the elder sigil in the house of Hades so mother Nyx could visit you here again. Maybe next time I could come with her- only if it is to your liking, of course. To visit you again. If that’s alright,” 

“I exert no influence over your actions. Whether or not you return in the company of Nyx is under her jurisdiction alone. But know- your presence is no burden in my realm.” That last sentence, despite being delivered in their usual monotone, had almost a hint of inflection threaded in it. This was hopeful proof enough of Chaos’s personal feelings. 

Thanatos nodded to them, encouraged. Chaos began to carefully lower him, back down to the slab where Zagreus was surely waiting. 

“Maybe one day I could convince my brother Hypnos to come visit as well. He is the god of Sleep, fickle but cheerful. I’m sure he would enjoy making your acquaintance just as much as I have,” Thanatos straightened back up again, not realizing he had fallen into his comfortable curl while speaking with his grandparent again, this time out of ease instead of trepidation. 

Death stepped down to float above the marble slab, and drifted to the prince’s side, where he was seated on the broken down stump of a column wrangling with something in his hands. 

“Than! Look what I caught!” Zagreus turned and presented a- 

“Eugh! It’s horrendous.” 

There was a... Fish? Writhing in Zag’s grip. It was vaguely fish shaped, and Zagreus held his fishing pole (that he never left the house without) in his other hand, so Thanatos assumed it was safe to call it a fish. It was composed of mostly a clear gelatinous substance, flat like a pita, but most disconcertingly it housed a quite sizable grey iris that swiveled freely within its confines as if the whole creature was one overly-large eyeball. 

“I know!” Zagreus looked nothing but pleased with his catch. He endeavored to tie it to his belt with a bit of extra line before continuing. “It told me it’s called Mati,” 

“It told you-?” Thanatos decided he didn’t want to know any more. The fish was giving him the evil eye. “How did you even manage to go fishing out here, Zagreus? Don’t fish need... some sort of water? Or something?” Anything besides infinite void, maybe. 

“I caught this fish the same way I catch all my fish, Than. Patience,” Zagreus looked quite satisfied with his wisdom. “Are you and Chaos done chatting, then? Ready to head back out?” 

“I think so,” 

“Son of Hades,” Chaos startled the pair when they spoke again, and the two looked up to meet their gaze. Thanatos had almost thought that Chaos would have disappeared after he had stopped looking at them, but there they were, drawn up to full size again. “Your boon-?” they led. 

“Of course. Let me just pick this up and we’ll go,” Zagreus plunged both his hands into the boon and suddenly his eyes looked very far away. Thanatos had no doubt he was looking at something else besides the endless void in front of him. 

“Oh... Master Chaos... this one is my favorite, thank you-!” Zagreus murmured quietly, but Chaos seemed to have heard him nonetheless. He pulled his hands out, and with them came a token that made Than’s immortal heart skip a beat. 

“That’s-”

“Enshrouded Defiance! I’ll be able to use another death defiance after I get through a few more chambers in Elysium,”

“A-another? But how is that possible?” Thanatos queried, stupefied. “You’ve never been able to do it more than three times... _I’ve_ never been able to,” he finished, thinking despondently about how desperately he had tried those first few times, trying to catch Zagreus’s ephemeral soul in his clawed gauntlet and plant it back in his still-warm chest, to no avail. It was still a point of pain for Death, thinking if he was better, somehow more skilled, that he would be able to keep preventing Zagreus’s demise.

“You should know, son of Nyx. All things are possible with me, even feats as these that would normally fall in your domain,” Chaos chimed in cryptically. 

Thanatos turned his attention fully back to his grandparent. “Thank you, Master Chaos. For helping him in this way. Even if it is only temporary. It... means a lot to me. More than you know,” he said, surprising even himself at the sheer intensity of his thanks. 

Chaos considered him for a moment as all of their eyes blinked in sync, making an unnerving sound. “There are infinite possibilities available to me. Today, this is how they have manifested. For his part, the son of Hades has brought me amusement through his actions. His spontaneity is intriguing. You have a hand in this regalement. And on this visit today as well. I would not be displeased were it to happen again. Farewell, sons of Hades and Nyx.” 

Thanatos could not perceive the moment Chaos disappeared, simply that one moment they were there and the next they were not, the void as empty as it was when they arrived. Death was left to try to figure out if Chaos’s parting words were meant to be interpreted as thanks in return for the thanks he offered, or a wish for another visit in the future. Maybe both?

“Alright then, Than,” Zagreus started as new portals tore open the floor in three places. “We should get going, I want to try to get this horrid thing back to Head Chef as soon as possible. Do you think he can make food out of it?”

“If he does, I don’t want to eat it.” 

“I just might. I bet you taste good, don’t you Mati?” The fish, thankfully, did not respond. 

The pair moved to the center of the triangle made by the new portals, and through each one Thanatos could see the wavering blue-green color pallet of Elysium. “Which one are we supposed to take back?”

“Blast if I know. I can’t see where any of these lead anymore. You pick! In any case we’ll be back in Elysium and you can go home and I will be one step closer to kicking Theseus’s ass again. And after I do, what do you say to sharing a celebratory bottle of Ambrosia with me?”

“Sure, Zag.” Thanatos picked a portal at random and the two approached it, arms slung around each other's waists again.

“With Mati fillets?”

“And you’ve lost me,”

Zagreus’s laughter was the last thing he heard before they took the plunge into the darkness together. Only this time, Thanatos wasn’t afraid at all. And he was sure, in his heart, that this would not be the last he would see of the Chaos realm.

**Author's Note:**

> There we are! Hades has me in a vice grip lately, so I just wanted to write a little something. I just think Chaos is so cool. Please! Let me know if you enjoyed! :D Comments and Kudos always make my day. I hope you have a lovely rest of your day, and thank you for reading! :3


End file.
